So I am 7 days into my 5k-a-day (only 358 left to go!). Here are a few things I have learned from my daily 3 mile challenge that might inspire you to get your shoes on and get out of that door.

1. The thought of going for a run is much worse than the run itself

A couple of times this week I really did not want to go running. It didn’t fit in with my schedule, and it has been cold and windy outside, however, once I got out there it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

2. Its so much easier to run with friends!!!

3 of this weeks runs were done with friends. I ran home from work with a friend from my office, had a 4 mile time trial with the Crystal Palace Fun Runners, and then made it to parkrun (with seconds to spare) to pace. Without a doubt these three runs were 100 times easier than the ones I had to do by myself!

3. A slow run feels better than no run at all

Almost every single run I have done this week has been slower than my normal pace. As a friend helpfully pointed out this is partly laziness and not wanting to push myself (Thanks for that by the way!), daily running has also taken its toll on my legs. I am finding my legs are getting heavier by the day but as it was my first week back on the bike and at the gym I am just going to keep going and hope that I get back up to speed in the next few weeks.

4. Stretching is essential!!

My 5k-a-day challenge has coincided with another challenge I have set myself to get more flexible. I started my 10 mins a day of stretching on Thursday and it has definitely made my runs feel easier, even if they are not getting any quicker!

This week I am focussing on trying runs at different times of the day to see what works for me but I am trying to avoid the treadmill where I can!

In other news.. Its T-7 days until my Iron man training starts (ARGH!!)!!!!

So after a long break from blogging I am back. It’s less of a “new year, new me” thing, and more of a “finally having something to blog about” thing. By my standards I have spent the last few months in an off period. For me this has meant missing a few gym sessions, not really sticking to any plans for long runs, swims, or rides, and eating a FAR too many carbs. This doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing anything at all since I took a break from blogging, I have tried to get to parkrun every week and this year I did my first ever boxing day swim (and it was my FAVOURITE THING EVER), followed by the race of the year, the Chevin Chase.

Pre-boxing day dip

Taking a bit of a break has actually allowed me to build muscle because my calorie intake is increased and I have started to even out a glute imbalance that has been the root cause of all of my running injuries to date, but now its time to settle back into a proper training routine and look at my targets for the next year. These are:

5K A Day:

Inspired by a very good friend and someone I saw on Instagram, my new years resolution is to run 5km every day for the next year. I have started well with the traditional new years day double park run hitting Pontefract at 9am followed by a very muddy Rothwell at 10:30am.

Post-parkrun muddy shoes!

Sub 3:30 at the Virgin London Marathon

This year I have managed to get a good for age place at the London Marathon in April. I was tempted to defer my place because I am moving to Ann Arbor in January but I decided to use it as an excuse to see my parents and come back to run. Then I realised it was exactly 12 weeks before my Iron Man so what better way to get in shape that get my legs ready for marathon distance??

Complete my first Iron Man

In a moment of madness a few months back I signed up for my first Iron Man event. I have never done a half-Iron Man, or even a full olympic tri so this is going to be a huge test for me to complete the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile ride, and 26.2 mile run in under 16 hours but I know that if I can stick to my training plan I will get there eventually!

Anyone who reads this page regularly will notice that I did not post at all last week but what can I say? I’ve been busy… but not at the gym.

I feel like since I got back from my holiday I have lost my mojo a bit and struggled to get back into my routine so I decided that this week I would write about what I intend to go to get back into the swing of things.

Workout with friends: This is always a great way to get yourself back into the gym! I am lucky that I have a good friend from work who is always up for trying out my work outs with me and she is back from her holidays this week so I have no excuse for missing a workout (starting tomorrow morning!).

Get someone to hold you accountable for sticking to your plans: I haven’t been to running club since I got back from my holidays but tomorrow I have committed to a friend that I will be there. Even though there is nothing she can do to make me go, the fact that I have told her I am going to go should be enough to tempt me out of the house on a miserable Monday evening. I am also not checking the route before hand so I really have no excuse!!

Write a plan down on paper: Okay so the paper part isn’t important… but it needs to be written down somewhere you can see to keep you motivated

Reward yourself: Make a deal with yourself that if you do all of the sessions you intended to do you can have a treat at the weekend. My treat is always food related so if I manage to get everything in that I want I will get myself a cream cake from the bakery but yours might be a nice long bubble bath or a massage or anything else you that is a treat to you.

Its always hard to get back into something after a longish break… but you have to remind yourself you did it before and you can definitely do it again!!!

If you follow me on Instagram you might notice that I have spent the last 3 weeks on holiday. As I intended to jump straight into my Iron Man training as soon as I was back I tried to think of ways I could keep my fitness up without it feeling like I was ruining my holiday. Here is a list of a few of the things I did to stop myself turning into a big pile of jelly, or jello since I was in the US…

Got a week long gym pass: Now I know that putting this first is an easy way to lose you all but I don’t expect this option to be for everyone. However hear me out before you close the page… While we were in LA I chose to get a gym membership for a week so that I could finish up my Ghofitness plan for the month and it was the best decision ever! We were staying in an Airbnb which was great but it meant no pool… my gym however not only had a pool but also a jacuzzi and sauna. Best $20 I ever spent.

Equipment-free workouts: Before I left, I had the team at Ghofitness send me some bodyweight only workouts. I did these 3 times a week while I was away, and they definitely helped to keep me in shape. There are loads of workouts you can find online and most of them just take 30 mins. They are a perfect way to start the day (before a bucket load of pancakes obviously!)

Beach yoga: There are hundreds of videos online for you to follow if you’re new to yoga, or if you have done a few classes before then just take yourself through some vinyassas on the sand.

Wheel on the sand at Cabrillo beach

Walks/Hikes: Sometimes keeping fit is a simple as getting in lots of long walks at a half decent pace. This is something super achievable for everyone on holiday and if its all you want to do then it is definitely enough to keep you ready for cardio when you return. We did our hike at Runyon Canyon with the people and dogs from the Free Animal Doctor, giving money to the charity and walking the dogs was the most rewarding experience of our holiday!

Meet my walking companion Jeffery, a dog that has been rescued from abuse by the Free Animal Doctor

Swimming: If your hotel has a pool or you’re staying near a beach swimming is not just a perfect way to cool off, its actually really good exercise!

Working out on holiday might not be for everyone, and I definitely thought I would do more than I actually did. But I think I am still in good enough shape to pick up my training (although my body fat is definitely twice as high as when I left!!!!)

So as a few of you might know, I am on holiday in the USA at the moment having a wonderful time driving around California. I was undecided as to whether or not I would blog while I was away but I wanted to write about a run I did yesterday while it was still fresh in my mind/legs.

Starting by the medal table is always pretty inspiring

I am training for the Beachy Head marathon, a trail run around the South Downs in the UK, and decided that as my marathon plan included a half that fell this weekend I might as well sign up for a race while I was here in the USA. That race was the Berkeley trail adventure, a gruelling trail run held in a park called Wild Cat Canyon just north of San Francisco. Now since Americans call anything longer than a walk to the corner shop a “hike” I am sure I could be forgiven for expecting this trail run to be nothing more than a run on some gravel around the base of the canyon but I was very very wrong… Hike = walk but trail run = full on mountain climb!!!

Elevation on the course. The first downhill was the hardest section and took me the longest to complete!

During this run I experienced pretty much every single emotion known to man…

Fear when extremely tight calves resulted in both feet going numb going up the worlds steepest hill 2 miles in to the race. I was actually in tears and didn’t think I was going to be able to get back down the winding trail with a sheer drop into the canyon and two completely numb feet… If anybody has any ideas why this happens or how to avoid it then PLEASE comment!!

Exhilaration when the next steep down hill section came on a smooth path through a woodland so I could just let go and enjoy it

Tranquility when I got to the top and saw the view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge over the bay.

Surprise when I heard a buzzing in my ear and then got stung a few seconds later (first time I have ever been stung and I was definitely freaking out for the last 2 miles of my run incase I was allergic)

Excitement when I saw I was approaching the finish line and my husband

Pride when I was awarded 2nd in my age category.

Finish photo!

This was without a doubt the most difficult run I have ever done but I would 100% do something similar again!! I love trail running in the UK but we just don’t have trails like this! Maybe I need to get into fell running???

TOTAL MILAGE THIS WEEK: Swim 0.5 miles | Cycle: 85.2 miles | Run: 13.2 miles |Comment: Sometimes you just have to accept that life gets in the way

This week I haven’t managed to get much of anything done really… although I did reach all 5 gym sessions (I consider this to be my cross training, something I think is more important than getting in the miles). Although I don’t feel great about not doing a run commute this week (I’ve been unable to run with a backpack after last weeks long run disaster) or missing my LSR, I think that the benefits I will gain from “resting up” for a week can only help me in the long run. With that in mind I decided to share my top tips for staying well during periods of intense training.

If you have any small niggles, go see a physiotherapist. It is quite apt that I am writing this post on the same day as the great north run because it was this race two years ago that I learned just how important this little piece of advice is. I trained really hard for what was to be my third ever half marathon, and had been ignoring a slight twinge in my knee choosing to patch myself up with kinesiology tape and get on with it. It was a beautiful day on race day, I started off running the fastest first two miles of my life and bumped into an old school friend on the way (what are the chances??) so I was in pretty high spirits when at 2.5 miles in my IT band gave in and I had to run/walk the remaining 11.5 miles in agony. I finished the race eventually but I was out of action for several months afterwards. When I finally gave in and saw a physio he diagnosed me with a glute weakness and gave me some exercises to do and within weeks I was right as rain. The injury still bothers me from time to time but I now know that doing my exercises will sort it out before it becomes a problem. If I had just gone to see a professional as soon as my leg started hurting, I would have had a much more pleasant experience at the GNR and maybe even prevented future injuries.

Practice a little self-massage. Now I am as terrible as the next runner about getting the foam roller out and doing some rehab but one thing I always make time for is the power plate machine at the gym. Its fantastic for a post run massage! The pictures below demonstrate my favourite positions using this machine so next time you’re in the gym, instead of ignoring that weird machine in the corner that nobody uses… get yourself on there and give it a go.

IT band:high setting, 30 seconds each side

Hamstrings: high setting, 60 seconds, gently roll knees in and out to deepen the intensity.

Calves: high setting, 60 seconds. Pull up toes to increase intensity

Quads: high setting, 60 seconds. Lower onto forearms to increase intensity. As a runner/cyclist I normally do this one more than once.

Make some time for yoga and mindfulness. So, I am a bit of a yoga nerd. I only tend to make one full session a week but I often practice little poses by myself at home or in the gym (especially balancing poses which are my fave!). I favour a vinyasa or ashtanga style of yoga but every now and again I try and do a bit of yin to help get into a really deep stretch. Even if you can only manage 15 minutes a day, there are loads of youtube videos that you can follow, although for me nothing beats an instructor led class, especially if you’re new to yoga and would like some guidance. If yoga is not really your thing, you can still benefit from spending a little time focussing on you, with a bit of meditation and deep breathing. This week I have been lucky enough to try out a new app by Thrive that made me take some time out of my day and practice some breathing and relaxation techniques. You can read more about the app here.

TOTAL MILAGE THIS WEEK: Swim 1.25 miles | Cycle: 61.2 miles | Run: 34.6 miles |Comment: Not bad for a four day week.

This week has been a bit of a mixed bag for me. A bank holiday always scuppers my training plans as I don’t cycle to work and running club is cancelled, so my milage is generally reduced on these weeks. Despite the fact that there was no running club, I still managed to significantly increase my running miles to the furthest I have done since I finished marathon training. Also, since I had some really nice and dare I say enjoyable runs last week, I did something stupid and committed to Beachy Head marathon (even though a few weeks ago I said that people who did multiple marathons in one year are crazy). Now the thing about Beachy is that it is notoriously tough, and there is no point going for speed, so the important thing is getting in the miles and the hills so that your legs can cope however long runs all the time are super boring so I tried several things to mix it up a little with varying amounts of success.

Run, swim, run (10.1 miles): I had left my bike at work last week, so on Tuesday I decided I would run to the serpentine swim my first mile, and then run to work. This didn’t quite work out as I got too cold to reach a mile so had to get out after 3/4s, but the run was a success. After the swim I threw my shoes on, and set off running to work without even removing my swim cap, and actually I quite enjoyed it!Things that worked: Knowing that I was going for a swim (aka going to my happy place).
Things that were difficult: Even though it was just two miles, its not easy running when your whole body is that cold.

Running with friends (5.1 miles, WU, 6*800m with 200m recovery, CD): This week saw the introduction of our new weekly Wednesday lunch runs where me and some girls from work have committed to dragging each other out of the office and into the park for a run. We don’t necessarily need to run together, we just need someone to motivate us to run! This week I did run with one of the girls, but she is much fitter and faster than me so I definitely won’t be holding her up every week.Things that worked: Having someone to motivate me to get out in the rain and run, as well as planning my route and speed splits… If you read this then thanks a lot AO!
Things that were difficult: I had trained legs 18hrs before the run. This definitely made the splits we were running much harder to achieve. Also I could have done with eating something before hand I think!

PARKRUN (3miles): This week it was our run directors 250th park run (well done Tom!!!!), so he decided that for a special occasion he would send us on a magical mystery tour of the park and do a single lap park run. This was without a doubt the best park run I have ever done and I believe people are petitioning to keep this route permanently which 100% gets my vote. Also, just call me Melania Trump because I was FIRST LADY!!!! (only because our regular first lady is on holiday but I am not normally second either so its still a huge achievement and it got me a mention in this weeks run report. Things that worked: They say a change is as good as a rest and that was definitely true for me this week. Also I had a good breakfast a few hours before setting off for the run so that definitely didn’t do any harm. Oh.. and I wore my lucky hat.Things that were difficult: To be honest this was pretty much an ideal run for me! I can’t really fault it.

Coming up the finishing straight in the sun

LSR/3 Parkrun Challenge (16.2 miles): Now, as you can imagine by this point in the week I was feeling pretty confident in my running ability, and decided to design myself a 3 park run challenge for my LSR. Now let me tell you something very important… putting in 3 good runs of 3 different lengths literally does not help you at all in the mental game that is the LSR. The 3 park run challenge is a simple concept… you pick 3 park runs that are close enough to each other, and run between them. If you’re looking for a shorter distance you can choose to do a junior park run route, or just a single lap of a multiple lap course, but if you want more distance then you put in the full 5km at each location. I picked South Norwood County Parkrun, Dulwich Parkrun, and my new home run at Crystal Palace. I planned to do 18 miles but ran out of time before junior park run at Crystal Palace so came in just a little bit short. This run was the worst run I have done possibly ever… but please don’t let that put you off the idea!Things that went well: I saw a man doing something similar in one park, and we met up again in another. Having someone to chat to for a couple of minutes really made the run more bearable for that short amount of time. Eating fruit while running (which was surprisingly easy)Things were difficult: RUNNING IN GENERAL. Today I picked up a blood blister the size of a 20p coin, didn’t eat enough before hand so my stomach was actually rumbling the whole way through. I squashed my post run sandwich, and I picked up a horrendous marathon tattoo from my camelback.

So in conclusion, the main point of this post is that every run is going to be different. There are some things I learned that will help every run though I think. These are:

Get a lucky hat and wear it whenever you can
Running with friends where possible
Don’t wear a vest and backpack combo
Make sure you eat a good breakfast and have plenty of time to digest it before setting off
Wear proper running socks
Orange segments in a bag in your pocket make a pretty good pre-run snack

Hopefully reading about all of my different run experiences this week might help you with yours in the future!